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- Николай Гоголь
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- Мертвые души
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- Стр. 134/232
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One
reason
why
the
men
's
party
was
so
certain
that
the
dead
souls
connoted
something
contrary
to
good
order
and
discipline
,
was
that
there
had
just
been
appointed
to
the
province
a
new
Governor-General
--
an
event
which
,
of
course
,
had
thrown
the
whole
army
of
provincial
tchinovniks
into
a
state
of
great
excitement
,
seeing
that
they
knew
that
before
long
there
would
ensue
transferments
and
sentences
of
censure
,
as
well
as
the
series
of
official
dinners
with
which
a
Governor-General
is
accustomed
to
entertain
his
subordinates
.
"
Alas
,
"
thought
the
army
of
tchinovniks
,
"
it
is
probable
that
,
should
he
learn
of
the
gross
reports
at
present
afloat
in
our
town
,
he
will
make
such
a
fuss
that
we
shall
never
hear
the
last
of
them
.
"
In
particular
did
the
Director
of
the
Medical
Department
turn
pale
at
the
thought
that
possibly
the
new
Governor-General
would
surmise
the
term
"
dead
folk
"
to
connote
patients
in
the
local
hospitals
who
,
for
want
of
proper
preventative
measures
,
had
died
of
sporadic
fever
.
Indeed
,
might
it
not
be
that
Chichikov
was
neither
more
nor
less
than
an
emissary
of
the
said
Governor-General
,
sent
to
conduct
a
secret
inquiry
?
Accordingly
he
(
the
Director
of
the
Medical
Department
)
communicated
this
last
supposition
to
the
President
of
the
Council
,
who
,
though
at
first
inclined
to
ejaculate
"
Rubbish
!
"
suddenly
turned
pale
on
propounding
to
himself
the
theory
.
"
What
if
the
souls
purchased
by
Chichikov
should
REALLY
be
dead
ones
?
"
--
a
terrible
thought
considering
that
he
,
the
President
,
had
permitted
their
transferment
to
be
registered
,
and
had
himself
acted
as
Plushkin
's
representative
!
What
if
these
things
should
reach
the
Governor-General
's
ears
?
He
mentioned
the
matter
to
one
friend
and
another
,
and
they
,
in
their
turn
,
went
white
to
the
lips
,
for
panic
spreads
faster
and
is
even
more
destructive
,
than
the
dreaded
black
death
.
Also
,
to
add
to
the
tchinovniks
'
troubles
,
it
so
befell
that
just
at
this
juncture
there
came
into
the
local
Governor
's
hands
two
documents
of
great
importance
.
The
first
of
them
contained
advices
that
,
according
to
received
evidence
and
reports
,
there
was
operating
in
the
province
a
forger
of
rouble-notes
who
had
been
passing
under
various
aliases
and
must
therefore
be
sought
for
with
the
utmost
diligence
;
while
the
second
document
was
a
letter
from
the
Governor
of
a
neighbouring
province
with
regard
to
a
malefactor
who
had
there
evaded
apprehension
--
a
letter
conveying
also
a
warning
that
,
if
in
the
province
of
the
town
of
N.
there
should
appear
any
suspicious
individual
who
could
produce
neither
references
nor
passports
,
he
was
to
be
arrested
forthwith
.
These
two
documents
left
every
one
thunderstruck
,
for
they
knocked
on
the
head
all
previous
conceptions
and
theories
.
Not
for
a
moment
could
it
be
supposed
that
the
former
document
referred
to
Chichikov
;
yet
,
as
each
man
pondered
the
position
from
his
own
point
of
view
,
he
remembered
that
no
one
REALLY
knew
who
Chichikov
was
;
as
also
that
his
vague
references
to
himself
had
--
yes
!
--
included
statements
that
his
career
in
the
service
had
suffered
much
to
the
cause
of
Truth
,
and
that
he
possessed
a
number
of
enemies
who
were
seeking
his
life
.
This
gave
the
tchinovniks
further
food
for
thought
.
Perhaps
his
life
really
DID
stand
in
danger
?
Perhaps
he
really
WAS
being
sought
for
by
some
one
?
Perhaps
he
really
HAD
done
something
of
the
kind
above
referred
to
?
As
a
matter
of
fact
,
who
was
he
?
--
not
that
it
could
actually
be
supposed
that
he
was
a
forger
of
notes
,
still
less
a
brigand
,
seeing
that
his
exterior
was
respectable
in
the
highest
degree
.
Yet
who
was
he
?
At
length
the
tchinovniks
decided
to
make
enquiries
among
those
of
whom
he
had
purchased
souls
,
in
order
that
at
least
it
might
be
learnt
what
the
purchases
had
consisted
of
,
and
what
exactly
underlay
them
,
and
whether
,
in
passing
,
he
had
explained
to
any
one
his
real
intentions
,
or
revealed
to
any
one
his
identity
.
In
the
first
instance
,
therefore
,
resort
was
had
to
Korobotchka
.
Yet
little
was
gleaned
from
that
source
--
merely
a
statement
that
he
had
bought
of
her
some
souls
for
fifteen
roubles
apiece
,
and
also
a
quantity
of
feathers
,
while
promising
also
to
buy
some
other
commodities
in
the
future
,
seeing
that
,
in
particular
,
he
had
entered
into
a
contract
with
the
Treasury
for
lard
,
a
fact
constituting
fairly
presumptive
proof
that
the
man
was
a
rogue
,
seeing
that
just
such
another
fellow
had
bought
a
quantity
of
feathers
,
yet
had
cheated
folk
all
round
,
and
,
in
particular
,
had
done
the
Archpriest
out
of
over
a
hundred
roubles
.
Thus
the
net
result
of
Madame
's
cross-examination
was
to
convince
the
tchinovniks
that
she
was
a
garrulous
,
silly
old
woman
.
With
regard
to
Manilov
,
he
replied
that
he
would
answer
for
Chichikov
as
he
would
for
himself
,
and
that
he
would
gladly
sacrifice
his
property
in
toto
if
thereby
he
could
attain
even
a
tithe
of
the
qualities
which
Paul
Ivanovitch
possessed
.
Finally
,
he
delivered
on
Chichikov
,
with
acutely-knitted
brows
,
a
eulogy
couched
in
the
most
charming
of
terms
,
and
coupled
with
sundry
sentiments
on
the
subject
of
friendship
and
affection
in
general
.
True
,
these
remarks
sufficed
to
indicate
the
tender
impulses
of
the
speaker
's
heart
,
but
also
they
did
nothing
to
enlighten
his
examiners
concerning
the
business
that
was
actually
at
hand
.
As
for
Sobakevitch
,
that
landowner
replied
that
he
considered
Chichikov
an
excellent
fellow
,
as
well
as
that
the
souls
whom
he
had
sold
to
his
visitor
had
been
in
the
truest
sense
of
the
word
alive
,
but
that
he
could
not
answer
for
anything
which
might
occur
in
the
future
,
seeing
that
any
difficulties
which
might
arise
in
the
course
of
the
actual
transferment
of
souls
would
not
be
HIS
fault
,
in
view
of
the
fact
that
God
was
lord
of
all
,
and
that
fevers
and
other
mortal
complaints
were
so
numerous
in
the
world
,
and
that
instances
of
whole
villages
perishing
through
the
same
could
be
found
on
record
.
Finally
,
our
friends
the
tchinovniks
found
themselves
compelled
to
resort
to
an
expedient
which
,
though
not
particularly
savoury
,
is
not
infrequently
employed
--
namely
,
the
expedient
of
getting
lacqueys
quietly
to
approach
the
servants
of
the
person
concerning
whom
information
is
desired
,
and
to
ascertain
from
them
(
the
servants
)
certain
details
with
regard
to
their
master
's
life
and
antecedents
.
Yet
even
from
this
source
very
little
was
obtained
,
since
Petrushka
provided
his
interrogators
merely
with
a
taste
of
the
smell
of
his
living-room
,
and
Selifan
confined
his
replies
to
a
statement
that
the
barin
had
"
been
in
the
employment
of
the
State
,
and
also
had
served
in
the
Customs
"
In
short
,
the
sum
total
of
the
results
gathered
by
the
tchinovniks
was
that
they
still
stood
in
ignorance
of
Chichikov
's
identity
,
but
that
he
MUST
be
some
one
;
wherefore
it
was
decided
to
hold
a
final
debate
on
the
subject
on
what
ought
to
be
done
,
and
who
Chichikov
could
possibly
be
,
and
whether
or
not
he
was
a
man
who
ought
to
be
apprehended
and
detained
as
not
respectable
,
or
whether
he
was
a
man
who
might
himself
be
able
to
apprehend
and
detain
THEM
as
persons
lacking
in
respectability
.
The
debate
in
question
,
it
was
proposed
,
should
be
held
at
the
residence
of
the
Chief
of
Police
,
who
is
known
to
our
readers
as
the
father
and
the
general
benefactor
of
the
town
.
On
assembling
at
the
residence
indicated
,
the
tchinovniks
had
occasion
to
remark
that
,
owing
to
all
these
cares
and
excitements
,
every
one
of
their
number
had
grown
thinner
.
Yes
,
the
appointment
of
a
new
Governor-General
,
coupled
with
the
rumours
described
and
the
reception
of
the
two
serious
documents
above-mentioned
,
had
left
manifest
traces
upon
the
features
of
every
one
present
.
More
than
one
frockcoat
had
come
to
look
too
large
for
its
wearer
,
and
more
than
one
frame
had
fallen
away
,
including
the
frames
of
the
President
of
the
Council
,
the
Director
of
the
Medical
Department
,
and
the
Public
Prosecutor
.
Even
a
certain
Semen
Ivanovitch
,
who
,
for
some
reason
or
another
,
was
never
alluded
to
by
his
family
name
,
but
who
wore
on
his
index
finger
a
ring
with
which
he
was
accustomed
to
dazzle
his
lady
friends
,
had
diminished
in
bulk
.
Yet
,
as
always
happens
at
such
junctures
,
there
were
also
present
a
score
of
brazen
individuals
who
had
succeeded
in
NOT
losing
their
presence
of
mind
,
even
though
they
constituted
a
mere
sprinkling
.
Of
them
the
Postmaster
formed
one
,
since
he
was
a
man
of
equable
temperament
who
could
always
say
:
"
WE
know
you
,
Governor-Generals
!
We
have
seen
three
or
four
of
you
come
and
go
,
whereas
WE
have
been
sitting
on
the
same
stools
these
thirty
years
.
"
Nevertheless
a
prominent
feature
of
the
gathering
was
the
total
absence
of
what
is
vulgarly
known
as
"
common
sense
.
"
In
general
,
we
Russians
do
not
make
a
good
show
at
representative
assemblies
,
for
the
reason
that
,
unless
there
be
in
authority
a
leading
spirit
to
control
the
rest
,
the
affair
always
develops
into
confusion
.
Why
this
should
be
so
one
could
hardly
say
,
but
at
all
events
a
success
is
scored
only
by
such
gatherings
as
have
for
their
object
dining
and
festivity
--
to
wit
,
gatherings
at
clubs
or
in
German-run
restaurants
.
However
,
on
the
present
occasion
,
the
meeting
was
NOT
one
of
this
kind
;
it
was
a
meeting
convoked
of
necessity
,
and
likely
in
view
of
the
threatened
calamity
to
affect
every
tchinovnik
in
the
place
.
Also
,
in
addition
to
the
great
divergency
of
views
expressed
thereat
,
there
was
visible
in
all
the
speakers
an
invincible
tendency
to
indecision
which
led
them
at
one
moment
to
make
assertions
,
and
at
the
next
to
contradict
the
same
.
But
on
at
least
one
point
all
seemed
to
agree
--
namely
,
that
Chichikov
's
appearance
and
conversation
were
too
respectable
for
him
to
be
a
forger
or
a
disguised
brigand
.
That
is
to
say
,
all
SEEMED
to
agree
on
the
point
;
until
a
sudden
shout
arose
from
the
direction
of
the
Postmaster
,
who
for
some
time
past
had
been
sitting
plunged
in
thought
.
